Your statistics textbook is 612 pages and your professor assigns chapters one at a time. Loading the whole book to skim chapter 7 is slow and annoying.
Splitting once gives you 14 focused files. Flint does it in a couple of minutes.
Use the bookmarks if the textbook has them
Most modern textbook PDFs include a chapter outline. Open split PDF, drop the book, choose 'split at bookmarks', select 'level 1'. The 14 chapters become 14 files, named after the chapter titles. You're done. If the bookmarks include front matter and appendices as top-level entries, you can deselect those before splitting.
Older textbook scans without bookmarks
Scanned textbooks often lack bookmarks. Two options: add bookmarks once via edit PDF (10 minutes, pays back forever), or specify ranges in split PDF. For the latter, open the textbook to the contents page, jot down start pages for each chapter, type the ranges. The PDF's page indicator should match the printed page number — if not, watch for the offset.
Keep front matter as its own file
Title page, copyright, contents, preface — these are useful but separate from chapter content. Make them their own split ('1-12') so chapter files start clean. Same with index and back matter at the end — own file.
Study workflow with chapter files
Annotate the chapter you're reading without polluting the whole book with notes. Add highlights, sticky notes, freehand marks. Each chapter's notes stay with that chapter. When you need to reference back, you're working with a smaller, faster file.
FAQ
What about textbook problem sets at chapter ends?
Usually included in the chapter file. If you want separate problem files, set narrower ranges that end before the problems.
Can I OCR scanned textbooks during the split?
Split doesn't OCR. Run OCR before splitting (separate tool), or convert to Word which OCRs as it converts.
Will mathematical equations survive splitting?
Yes — equations are part of the page content. Splitting doesn't re-render anything.
Can I split a friend's chapter back into pages for printing?
Yes, split into single pages on any chapter file.
One book in, fourteen chapter files out. Split your textbook and study sharper.